Anger
Two boys who live across the street from us were being especially nasty to Noah this afternoon. Noah went out to tell them that he would be out soon to ride his bike and ask if they would like to join him. They responded by whispering, laughing, and running away from him without answering. This happened three times before Noah came running in the house in tears and told me what happened.
Why is it that an hour later Noah is happily riding his bike with them and I still want to smack their little heads together?
Hugs Carrie! I would feel the same way. Must be a mom thing.
July 31st, 2006 at 5:09 am{{{hugs}}} to you and Noah. I think things like this have happened to kids less often than adults. We have a lifetime of dealing with idiots like this, so we are less able to let go of the anger and hurt. I think it also has to do with watching our child go through pain. *We* can take it much easier if it happened to us than watching our children be treated like that.
July 31st, 2006 at 8:00 amAmy and Carolyn - yes, it’s definitely a mom thing - maybe a Mama Bear thing.
July 31st, 2006 at 12:53 pmBecause they NEED their heads smacked together, that’s why! You’re only thinking of what’s best for them. (hee hee)
August 1st, 2006 at 10:56 amBlest - I couldn’t agree more!
August 1st, 2006 at 11:02 amThere have been many times that I have felt capable of taking-out someones child because of the way they made my kid feel. Of course, I have never done it, just thought about it!
August 2nd, 2006 at 6:42 amI thought this only happened with girls! I’ve tried going out and helping them solve it, or talking to the other kids, especially if I know their mama wouldn’t put up with them acting that way, but that’s only earned me the reputation of the mean mom on the block, lol. We have about 5 girls first-grade age on our block and there is always a clique or two who won’t play with one or the other. It’s crazy, this young. I tell my girls that’s how school kids act, but if they just stay friendly and don’t get nasty back it will blow over. I hope I’m doing the right thing.
August 2nd, 2006 at 6:46 amGem - it’s so hard, isn’t it? I don’t know either of the parents very well, so that makes it even more difficult.
August 2nd, 2006 at 8:22 amRandi - it has happened before to my daughter, but this is the first time I’ve encountered such flat-out meanness from boys.
August 2nd, 2006 at 8:25 amSorry, this has nothing to do with the meanness of the boys towards your son, (deal with it ALL THE TIME on the playground — boys AND girls) but I couldn’t find an email.
In case you don’t come back and check for an answer to your question, here’s what I wrote to you:
Carrie,
I struggle with this all the time in my classroom. I was working with some teachers in New Orleans earlier this year and they about fell out of their chairs when I told them I don’t test my students on their reading. Apparently, not all public school teachers have that option. Maybe I don’t either, but I close my door and teach.
Just like you, I want my students to love reading in an authentic way that will ensure that they are life-long readers, and that they will continue to CHOOSE to read even when some other teacher down the pike makes reading a chore. And just like you, we talk and talk and talk about books. (In literature circles, in line for lunch, during read-aloud, you name it!)
In the end, when the state test scores come in, my students are neither all at the top of the charts nor are they all failures. Based on what I know about them as readers, I probably could have pretty accurately assigned a score and saved everyone the pain of the test. But here’s the thing: HOW DO YOU TEST AN ATTITUDE OR A PASSION?!?!?!
As you can see, you hit another nerve.
We’ve got the state achievement tests hanging over us; what pressures are there in the homeschool world that a public school teacher might not be aware of?
August 2nd, 2006 at 9:17 amPerhaps Noah is simply doing what he has been taught at home… practicing forgiveness. I think sometimes we may underestimate our kids. *Smile*
(I tried to publish a feed. Let me know if I did it right! *LOL*)
August 3rd, 2006 at 4:17 amPerhaps Noah was simply doing what he has been taught at home… practicing forgiveness. I think we may sometimes underestimate our kids. *Smile*
( I tried to publish a site feed. *Chuckle*)
August 3rd, 2006 at 4:21 am